


Sunset at Starr Hall

by Jingle



Series: Incidents at Temple University (Steven Universe College AU) [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Gen, M/M, No Name Changes, Podfic Welcome, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-16 21:44:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11261607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jingle/pseuds/Jingle
Summary: Steven ponders relationships, and it doesn't get him very far, but he ends up happy all the same.





	Sunset at Starr Hall

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Larisa, ([facetiousfutz](http://archiveofourown.org/users/facetiousfutz/profile)), who Beta Read this.

“Do you wear that stupid shirt so often because we’re in Starr Hall?” Lars looked his roommate up and down. “Because that would be really dumb.”

Steven smiled his usual, goofball smile, and Lars rolled his eyes. How was this guy possibly in his second year of college? Lars was a sophomore, too, and he was certain that  _ he _ wasn't that naive. “Nah, I mean, we’re in Starr Hall with two ‘R’s. This is a star with one ‘R’,” Steven said, pointing to the yellow star on his chest.

“Whatever.”

Steven, who was seated on his bed, rocked back and forth. “So, are you going to Sour Cream’s party tomorrow?”

“ _ You _ were invited to Sour Cream’s party?”

“The whole campus was invited! There are posters everywhere.”

“Yeah, but that- Man, you really don’t get anything, do you, Steven? Sour Cream is an upperclassman. And he’s  _ cool _ . We-  _ You _ can’t just show up at his party!”

“I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have put up all the posters if everyone wasn’t welcome,” Steven said cheerily.

Again, Lars rolled his eyes. “Go with your weird mom-friends.”

“They’re not mom-friends. They’re just friends.”

“They look out for you and stuff. That’s pretty much what makes a friend a mom-friend.”

Steven seemed to consider this. “Are you my mom-friend, then?”

“What?! No!” Lars felt his face go warm, and he quickly turned in his swiveling desk chair to face his laptop. Yeah, that was what he needed – to be someone’s  _ mom-friend _ . Nothing said ‘cool kid’ like being an overbearing worrywart. Granted, only one of Steven’s weird mom-friends fit that description, but still. “Look, I’ve got an English paper to write,” he muttered.

“Okay.” Steven stretched out on his bed and yawned. The topic seemed done.

“And how do I ‘look out for you’, anyway?!” Lars snapped, and suddenly, the topic was open for discussion again.

“Huh? Oh! Well, you’re always telling me what’s okay to do, you know? Like with the party – although I’m still not sure you’re right about that.”

Lars tilted his head back and groaned. “That’s not looking out for you, Steven, that’s just – Look, you’re my roommate, right? And if you go around being a weirdo, that’s gonna give people the wrong idea about  _ me. _ ”

“It is?”

“Of course!”

Steven seemed oddly fine with Lars’ reason there, but then again, Lars wouldn’t be surprised if Steven  didn’t believe him. Steven saw good in everything and everyone – even when it wasn’t there. In fact, Lars was almost certain Steven didn’t believe him, because instead of acting dejected, Steven bounced back up to a sitting position and asked, “When are you going to declare a major?”

“I guess I’m supposed to this year,” Lars said, typing away. He was used to Steven jumping around conversational topics by now – this was their first year as roommates, but Steven had befriended Sadie at the start of last year, so they’d been around each other a lot.

“Sadie doesn’t understand why you’re not in culinary school,” Steven said, and Lars shrugged without turning to look at him. “But I guess you don’t want to leave her, right? I mean, isn’t that why you came here in the first place? Because Sadie was going?”

If Lars’ face had felt warm earlier, now it seemed to be on fire. “No, Steven – geez, what is with you and that?!”

“That?”

“Me and Sadie!”

“Well, I mean… You two are going to get back together, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know.  _ No _ ! I mean…” Lars groaned loudly and tugged at a handful of his hair. “It’s none of your business, Steven! And we haven’t dated since  _ high school _ , anyway, and I’m pretty sure she likes that Ronaldo guy, and I don’t know why I’m even  _ telling you any of this _ , because it’s not your business!” On that last thought, he spun around in his chair to face Steven. He looked haggard, but beneath the clear emotional fatigue, there was something in his expression that seemed confused. Steven shifted uncomfortably; guiltily.

“She’s crazy about you,” he said softly.

“No,” Lars replied, “she’s obviously not.” Or at least, she shouldn’t be.

Steven lay down again, gathering his long curls beneath his head. A built-in pillow, he often called it. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed it.”

“Yeah, well…” Lars returned to writing his paper. Steven wanted to say more. He wanted to tell Lars not to wait; to remind him that Sadie was a year ahead of them, and if Lars didn’t do something before she graduated at the end of next year, it might  _ really _ be too late. But clearly Lars didn’t want to talk about it, so Steven didn’t bring it up. He wasn’t  _ trying _ to be pushy, or anything. He just wanted Lars to be happy.

It was painfully cliché, as Connie liked to point out, that Steven liked Lars so much that he was trying to set him up with someone else in the hopes that Lars could be happy.

“Of course, you’d probably do it even if you didn’t have a crush on him,” Connie would also say. “You’re the nicest guy ever.”

Steven knew she was right – about him trying to get Sadie and Lars together no matter what, that is. As for the rest... Well, he  _ was _ nice, it was true - but the nicest guy  _ ever _ ? That was a pretty lofty goal.

He wondered if Lars was right about Sadie liking Ronaldo. That would complicate things, because Sadie was his friend, and he wanted her to be happy, too. Relationships were so complicated… He wondered what his friends in Suite 12 of Starr Hall would say. His mom-friends, as Lars had put it.

Amethyst would probably make a joke about things like that being the reason she didn’t bother with relationships, even though she’d kind of dated Pearl last year. It hadn’t worked out very well, but they’d worked their friendship out over the summer. And as for Pearl, she would get all flustered, because she had a crush on Steven’s mother, who was a nurse at the school. (That had been part of the problem in things with Amethyst.) It seemed like talking about love life stuff with Steven seemed to remind her of that infatuation. Garnet wouldn’t give him advice, exactly. She’d say something mysterious, and undoubtedly very cool, but she rarely provided answers, just gentle nudges in the right direction. For this, Steven wanted  _ answers _ .

He could talk to Connie, but his childhood best friend from back home was a freshman, and still adjusting to college life, so Steven wanted to be there for her more than lean on her for help, himself. (Although, Connie was rooming with Sadie this year – Temple University had no qualms about putting underclassmen and upperclassmen together as roommates – so she may have some valuable insight on the whole Ronaldo thing. Of course, that might also be private roommate stuff, and Steven didn’t want to put Connie in an awkward spot.) That just left Kiki, who was quite nice; Steven certainly considered her a friend, but not a close enough one to talk about all this with.

Steven glanced up and out of the window, which provided a nice view of the coast. The sun was setting, and it looked beautiful, which kind of perked Steven up. He wasn’t the sort to stay down about things for long, anyway. “Lars, can I sit on your bed to watch the sunset?” Lars sighed, but nodded, so Steven hopped of his bed and went over to Lars’. The pinks in the sky were melting into rich purples, which were reflected in the ocean below. “We’re lucky to have a good view. Garnet and Amethyst and Pearl can’t see the sea from their room.”

“That’s nice, Steven,” Lars said tersely.

Right, the English paper. Steven mimed zipping his lips – not that Lars was looking, anyway – and quietly watched the sunset. It really was a good view – the best view. Taking it in made Steven feel content.


End file.
